Cash boost to fix pot hole ridden roads

MORE than £3.3million has been handed to the county council to fix Worcestershire's pot hole ridden roads.

It is estimated 63,000 pot holes could be mended with the additional money from the Department of Transport, part of a wider £168million fund offered to councils.

Worcestershire County Council has until March next year to spend the money and while ministers have urged them to use it for repairing or preventing pot holes, it can be used for general road maintenance as well. The council will be required to publish monthly updates on how many pot holes have been repaired and miles of road resurfaced as a condition of accepting the money.

The cash is on top of almost £2.2million given to the council earlier this year to help repair roads following winter flooding. When added to the usual maintenance funding granted to the council it takes the Government's investment in Worcestershire's roads network this year to over £16.4million.

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the money was an important step to ridding roads of the menace of potholes.

"By building, repairing and renewing our key infrastructure we will ensure the future growth and prosperity of this county," he said.

A spokeswoman for Worcestershire County Council said while some of the money would be spent on repairing pot holes a proportion would also be allocated to preventative measures as well.

The council invested an extra £700,000 in road maintenance following the winter flooding and over 7,000 pot holes were repaired as a result.

Coun John Smith, responsible for transport and highways on the council, added: "Worcestershire has been proactive in its approach to such a growing problem. We have also been active in urging our residents to report pot holes, which has allowed them to get involved in the process and see how their money is being spent on repairing their local roads."

The Standard reported in April how 51 per cent of residents are dissatisfied with the condition of the county's roads and just 31 per cent in Redditch thought they were kept in a reasonable state.